Indian captain Rohit Sharma announced that the T20 World Cup winning game against South Africa in Barbados (on Saturday, June 29) was his last in the shortest format as he announced his retirement from T20Is, joining veteran batter Virat Kohli in taking a similar call. Shortly after leading India to its second T20 WC title by seven runs, Rohit said this was his last game for India in T20Is.

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“This was my last [T20I] game as well,” Rohit said during the post-match presser. 

“No better time to say goodbye to this format. I’ve loved every moment of this. I started my India career playing this format. This is what I wanted, I wanted to win the cup.

“I wanted this badly. Very hard to put in words. It was a very emotional moment for me. I was very desperate for this title in my life. Happy that we eventually crossed the line,” he continued.

The batting great bows out as the top-scorer in this format, having smashed 4,231 runs in 159 matches, including hitting five T20I hundreds – the most by any batter. The win over the Proteas also saw Rohit becoming a two-time T20 world champion – first in 2007 as a player and now in 2024 as the captain.

Meanwhile, Rohit was India’s best batter in this tournament, scoring 257 runs in eight outings at a strike rate of 156.70. It was the second-best tally for batters with the most runs in this edition, with Afghanistan opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz topping the list with 281 runs.

The Indian opener had a sluggish start to the tournament but picked up the pace at the fag end of the tournament. Against the mighty Australians, Rohit’s 92 at the top was perhaps his best knock in T20 World Cups, with smashing Mitchell Starc for four sixes in an over during the Powerplay being the highlight.

However, a more crucial knock came a few days later against England in the second semis clash (in Guyana) where Rohit scored another fifty (57) on a tricky track, putting India ahead in the knockout tie. 

In the grand finale against the Proteas, Rohit scored a couple of fours, before getting out to spinner Keshav Maharaj, caught at square leg.

Kohli, Dravid depart

While head coach Rahul Dravid’s tenure ended with the conclusion of this T20 World Cup, veteran batter Virat Kohli also said goodbye to the shortest format, announcing his retirement from the T20Is following the win over South Africa. 

“This was my last T20 World Cup and this is exactly what we wanted to achieve,” Kohli said after winning the Player-of-the-Match award for his 59-ball 76 in the T20 World Cup final.

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